Good matchups:
Ceedee Lamb vs PHI
Talk about a perfect storm for Ceedee Lamb after coming off his best fantasy performance of his career. The Eagles are allowing the most fantasy points per game to wide receivers overall and the third most points to slot receivers in 2023, which should have fantasy managers licking their chops for a potential second week-winning outing from Lamb in Week 9. One interesting nugget that makes the matchup even more intriguing - QB Dak Prescott has scored 20+ fantasy points and 3+ touchdowns in each of his past three matchups against the Eagles, including one game last year where Ceedee Lamb had the second of his two WR1 finishes in 2022. Lamb has seen a 32% target share over the past two weeks with a 96% catchable target rate in that same time frame, and with the Eagles allowing the fewest fantasy points to running backs so far this season, Dallas is likely heading into this one with the plan to attack the Eagles secondary early and often. Lamb has top-5 potential for the second straight week.
Davante Adams & Jakobi Meyers vs. NYG
Both Raiders receivers had just one catch apiece in the abomination of a performance we were all forced to watch on Monday night – but that isn’t likely to happen again. The Raiders have made changes at head coach, GM, offensive coordinator, and starting quarterback, opting to throw rookie signal caller Aidan O’Connel into the fray. The Giants are allowing the fifth-most fantasy points to perimeter wide receivers over the past four weeks, and the second-most fantasy points to right-side receivers in that same span. O’Connell peppered Davante Adams in Week 4, and fantasy managers can expect more of that to continue this week – but Meyers also has intriguing upside against a bad Giants team in Week 9. O’Connell and Meyers were able to connect for a touchdown late in very limited action against the Bears, which should give Meyers managers optimism that his 4 target, two catch performance against the Chargers is just an outlier performance. Adams should be started as a WR1 as long as he’s healthy, while Meyers is best suited as a mid-high WR3 this week.
Bad Matchups:
Zay Flowers vs SEA
A few weeks ago, we were talking about buying Zay Flowers being a buy ahead of a handful of good matchups and after seeing an excellent target share. Well, we’ve made it to the end of that string of good matchups, and Flowers has yet to have a top-12 finish on the season. Not only has his target share fallen from 30% in weeks 1-4 to 25% in weeks 5-8, but his average depth of target ranks as the sixth-lowest (8.15) among WRs to run more than 250 routes this season. He stumbles into a matchup against an upstart Seattle secondary that’s allowed just the 2nd-fewest fantasy points to perimeter wide receivers over the past four weeks, and with Gus Edwards on a scoring spree as of late (four touchdowns over the past two games), Flowers has proven that the upside just isn’t there right now for him in the Ravens offense. Flowers is a fringe WR2 in this week’s matchup with limited upside.